TRADELINESTHE NEWS AND VIEWS AT KENT BLAXILL SPRING 2015 ISSUE: No 71

INSIDE n Melton makeover n New finance director n Helping to feed hungry children

n A team of glassinstallers from Kent

Blaxill has completed a keyrole in the refurbishment ofthe iconic Lord Foster-designed Willis Building inthe heart of Ipswich. On a bitterly cold February

morning, KB glass installersreturned to refit eight 175 kgpanes of glass, restoring thebuilding’s unique look, havingremoved the glass six monthsearlier. The KB team was contracted

last year to remove the panes ofspecialist 12 mm heat-treatedand toughened anti-sun facadeglass to enable the refurbishmentof what was the first listed 1970s’building. The panes were easedout using specialist lifting equip-ment and stored for six monthsin the Kent Blaxill warehouse.Their removal enabled the

main contractor, Structuretone,to work on the building withouthaving a major impact on theday-to-day running of the WillisGroup business.“It was a challenging job butwe were excited to workon such a special build-ing,” said Paul Meek,KB glazing contractsmanager.Paul oversaw all thework and was on-

site at all times.

Glass installers completehigh level work to refit giant panes on cutting-edge building

n Kent Blaxill will beopening a new

decorative branch atFakenham in Norfolkduring the spring as itcontinues its expansionpolicy. It will be thecompany’s tenth store inEast Anglia.Located on a new industrial

estate at Clip Bush Park inHawthorn Way, the 2,600 sq ftunit will be managed by MichaelNicholls, who has been incharge of the Norwich branch.James Park, KB decorative

manager, said: “The Fakenhamarea is an exciting place to opena decorative branch as there isplenty of untapped for potentialfor trade decorators in athriving market town. We hadfound that our Norwich branchdelivery service was spending alot of time on the NorthNorfolk coast.”The new branch will serve

an area stretching from thenorth Norfolk coast across toDownham Market.It will be based on the same

formula as the highly successfulHuntingdon branch whichopened last year.The new Fakenham branch

will stock the Dulux, Crownand Armstead paint brands aswell as designer paint labelsFarrow & Ball, Little Greeneand Paint Library.“In addition to there being a

demand for deliveries, there isa lot of potential for collectbusiness sales,” said James.

Tenth KBbranch toopen inFakenham

Helping to restorea modern classic

Cutting edge:KB installersworking on

the WillisBuilding

Built On Trust Since 1838

TRADELINES

n The landscapingarea in

Colchester is comingup roses after aspring overhaul. An additional small

landscaping display,sponsored byTobermore, has beenset up in front of theentrance to the mainshop, while sandstoneproducts have beenmoved round from theheavyside department.There are new

ranges of Forest fencing,Barlow Tyrie tables andchairs, and a display ofsummerhouses andsheds.A further

development will see anew entrance beingcreated to enablecustomers to accessthe showroom directly from thelandscaping shop.

Spring stirs in landscaping

Tradelines Spring 2015 kentblaxill.co.uk

Russell callsthe shots

nThe KB Meltonbranch was

relaunched at the startof March with a specialopening day – whichfeatured supplierstands anddemonstrations as wellas a series of giveaways.“The £60,000 overhaul

makes the branch themost recent addition toour new store format,which has had greatfeedback from ourcustomers in Norwichand Huntingdon,” saidJames Park, decorativemanager. “Customers now step

into a brighter and morewelcoming environmentafter a complete internaland externalrefurbishment..” As well as an external

redecoration in blue andnew signage to make thebranch more visible fromthe road, new skylightshelp brighten up theinterior where themezzanine floor has also

been removed.There is now an

improved stock of tradepaints, while the designerpaints area has beenexpanded to 9 m x 5 m,

with stocks extended toinclude Zoffany,Sandersons, Earthbornand Rustoleum ChalkPaint. There is also a newwallpaper selection area.

Under branch managerJane Collins, sales at thestore last year increasedby 18%. Jane is assisted byLyndsey O’Dowd, JohnBrooks and Dan Bond.

n Processes specialist Russell Malcolm-Stewart has joined Kent Blaxill as glass

operations manager as part of a departmentrestructuring.“His role will be to ensure our efficiency in

completing projects on time and in full, as well ashelping us achieve our goal of being easier to dealwith” said Steve Last, business manager.Russell, 35, will work under Steve alongside

technical manager Adam Smith and installationmanager Neil Currell. Russell’s background is in operations

management, which has included five years with theLove Film distribution centre. He has IOSH andNEBOSH health and safety qualifications andexperience in change and process management.“His arrival will allow other members of the team

to concentrate on their project work,” said Steve.

Melton makeover catches the eye

Stepping forward:Russell Malcolm-Stewart in theglass department

Bright welcome: therefurbished Melton store

n Kevin Pryke(pictured) has

joined Kent Blaxill asfinance director. Kevin, 33, who

trained with accountantsScrutton Bland beforemoving to KPMG,worked previously forseven years as financialcontroller at Notcutts inWoodbridge where hegained experience ofacquisitions, disposals,implementation andintegration of newsystems and processimprovement.Simon Blaxill, KB

managing director, said:“Kevin is young andambitious and joins uswith considerable

experience of a fastgrowing business. “He is a good fit for

us at a time when weare looking to bothexpand our branchnetwork and maximiseour service tocustomers at ourexisting locations.”Kevin said: “My brief

includes improvingmanagement financialinformation andintegrating it into thebusiness, as well ashelping with companystrategy for growth.”Outside of work

Kevin, who lives inIpswich, has interests insquash, football andcycling.

TRADELINES

Kevin joins asfinance director

n Kent Blaxill has also installed ten glazed office partition screens fornational house builder Bellway Homes at its new head office on the

former Marconi Works in Chelmsford.The £24,000 contract involved the supply and fitting of 39 pieces of 12 mm

toughened float glass, which together weighed 2,600 kg, along with all the associatedhardware, floor springs and door rails.The first day was particularly gruelling for all involved as all the glass had to be

walked up the staircase to the relevant floors.

kentblaxill.co.uk Spring 2015 Tradelines

Office screens for Bellway

n Stand by formajor

improvements to theKent Blaxill website asthe year progresses –making it easier to viewand purchase goods.Gareth Chambers,

ecommerce manager,said: “We will be launch-ing a major upgrade in thesecond quarter of theyear which will bring adrastic improvement tothe shopping experiencefor customers in the waythey can browse and filterthe products they arelooking for, along withimproved website struc-ture and navigation.”Later in the year we will

open up access to acustomer portal area,

allowing customers 24/7viewing of their accounts,invoices and proof of deliv-ery, and the ability to paytheir account online.Customers will also beable to download price listsspecific to their account.“Longer term,

customers will be able todownload a dedicated appto their Smart device foreasy viewing and orderingwhile on the job. Acustomer would be able tocheck the stock at a partic-ular branch and then clickand collect – or arrangedelivery,” said Gareth.“The upgrades are all

part of our focus to makeit easier for ourcustomers to do businesswith Kent Blaxill.”

Website’s new dimension

Dan launches campaign inprotective coatings market

n Kent Blaxill hastaken a big step

forward in thedecorative sector withthe appointment ofprotective coatingsspecialist Dan Ruegg.Dan, 35, will be aiming

to build up sales ofindustrial and protectivecoatings for use ondifficult surfaces includingfloors, steel and cladding.He will be available acrossthe whole of East Angliato draw up specifications.He joins having had 14

years in the decoratingindustry and four yearsselling protective coatings.

“He will be operatingthrough all our branchesand will be available to goout on site to advise oncustomer requirements,”said Andy Whitney, salesmanager. “He has stronglinks in the protectivecoatings industry.Dan will also be

training up a protectivecoatings champion inevery KB branch.“The appointment

reflects the fact that KentBlaxill is continuing toexpand around its corebusinesses as well asopening new branches,”said Andy. Staff training improves

product expertisen Kent Blaxill staff will be undergoing

specialist product training this year toensure they can offer customers the best advice.Suppliers will be providing experts to lead the

eight training sessions, which will be attended byselected staff from across the company and itsbranch network. Suppliers taking part include Dulux,Crown, Osmo and Coo-var.

Dan Ruegg: available toadvise customers acrossEast Anglia

n Kind-hearted staff atKent Blaxill in

Colchester collected 26rucksacks filled with clothes,toiletries and schoolequipment for the Mary’sMeals charity.The charity is currently feeding

923,572 of the poorest children

around the world, most of themsuffering from war, poverty,famine or natural disaster. The rucksacks provide children

with the clothes and basicequipment they need to go toschool, and the food to feed themwhilst they are there.The rucksacks were assembled

by the staff at Kent Blaxill foronward distribution to Malawi.The collection was organised by

Monica Hartley who said: “Initiallywe were aiming for eight rucksacksbut things rapidly snowballed aspeople got into the festive moodwith rucksacks coming in fromacross the company.”

Helping to feed hungry children

Tradelines Spring 2015

TRADELINES

kentblaxill.co.uk

COLCHESTERCO2 9JY

%: 01206 216000sales@kentblaxill.co.uk

BRAINTREECM7 3GZ

%: 01376 335999Braintree@kentblaxill.co.uk

BURY ST EDMUNDSIP33 3TX

%: 01284 762401bury@kentblaxill.co.uk

HUNTINGDONPE29 6EB

%: 01480 435731Huntingdon@kentblaxill.co.uk

IPSWICHIP3 0AB

%: 01473 341330 Ipswich@kentblaxill.co.uk

KIRBY CROSSCO13 0LY

%: 01255 679161 Kirby@kentblaxill.co.uk

NORWICHNR2 4UX

%: 01603 628973Norwich@kentblaxill.co.uk

SUDBURY CO10 2FT

%: 01787 372241 Sudbury@kentblaxill.co.uk

WOODBRIDGE IP12 1RB

%: 01394 384255 melton@kentblaxill.co.uk

Kent BlaxillCompanyLimited

@KentBlaxill and @KBDecorating

n Customer phonewaiting times are

being cut with KentBlaxill installing newsoftware to ensurecalls are answeredwithin six rings.After six rings the

caller will get the optionto leave a message orhold. Should there still beno answer, the systemwill log the missed calland a staff member willcontact thecustomerwithintwo hours.

No morehanging on the telephone

n Joinery productsare being moved

centre stage to becomea specialist sector atthe Bury St Edmundsstore.“Joinery is a big part of

the building trade andthere is a lot of potentialfor us to capitalise on it inthe Bury St Edmundsarea,” said PatrickSpurgeon, branchmanager. “We have in-depth specialist joineryknowledge, both in myselfand Tony Sharpe, whowill be the main contact.”“We will be specialising

in quality products, provid-ing customers with ourexpertise and real value tohelp their projects.”A major reorganisation

of the store has now been

completed to createspace for the new stock.Stocks will include

veneer and painted inter-nal doors, fire doors, stairparts, and windows inwood and plastic, as wellas all the related iron-mongery and accessories.Brands include RichardBurbidge stair parts, JBKind doors, and woodenwindows from Rationale

and Dale Joinery.The department is to

be relaunched during aspecial promotional week.l The landscaping displayarea at the Bury StEdmunds store has beenexpanded by about athird. Reworked displayshave been supplementedwith Tobermore prod-ucts, in addition to GlobalStone paving.

Bury builds on joinery n A new traffic

managementsystem has beenintroduced on the KBColchester site tomaximise safety.“We are always

looking at how we canimprove safety forcustomers and staff,”said Andy McMahon,Colchester branchmanager. “We have nowput in a new relief roadat the back of the yardto separate HGVvehicles from customers,and to improve trafficmanagement. “We have also

introduced a new one-way system in thecustomer car park at thefront of the site.”

Safety first on-site driving

TonySharpe(right)givessome

joineryadvice